Independent Investor

Many retirees, concerned with no longer having a steady paycheck, have asked me for advice on whether to pay off their mortgage early. There is no definitive answer but here are some variables to consider when making a decision.

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The recent Wall Street sit-in by a few hundred radicals would lead us to believe that Wall Street is responsible for the present changes in the world’s climate. Maybe so, but remember this, what Wall Street has done, it can also undo.

Over the last four months, Americans have received an early holiday present. The price of oil has dropped precipitously, benefiting both corporations as well as the consumer. But that could be a two-edged sword for this nation.

Monday’s Wall Street sit-in by a few hundred radicals would lead us to believe that Wall Street is responsible for the present changes in the world’s climate. Maybe so, but remember this, what Wall Street has done, it can also undo.

Readers know that I am no apologist for big business, the financial community or Wall Street. As for climate change, I am clearly on the side of those 300,000-plus people who participated in the People’s Climate March on Sunday. The earth is in jeopardy today thanks to carbon emissions generated by fossil fuels.

You’ve been saving for retirement over these past 25 years. Month after month you have put a little away and watched it grow. Now that you are ready to retire, you need to confront an entirely new concept — spending that money.

It’s not an easy thing for many of us to accept. I have many clients who still haven’t become comfortable with that concept several years into retirement.

In recent weeks, politicians and concerned citizens alike have decried the growing number of corporations that have opted to renounce their citizenship and move off-shore. Rather than simply playing the blame game, a better approach might be to examine the underlying cause for this growing exodus.

There is a growing national buzz among scientists and engineers over a driveway in Idaho. This green-hued stretch of hexagonal tiles of hardened glass in an Idaho suburb represents one prototype idea for revolutionizing the nation’s highways. It could be a road to the future.

Despite all the bickering in Washington over immigration, there is a piece of legislation on the books that allows any foreign national to effectively purchase permanent residence status in the United States. All it costs is $500,000.

Only 40 percent of those who retire find their quality of life improved. That’s because the majority of Americans, especially men, fail to understand that retirement can have a sudden and stressful impact on their lives and especially their marriage. Don’t let this happen to you.